Star of David
by SETI-fan
Summary: Pronounced "Star of Dah-veed". Ziva looks into replacing her lost necklace.
1. Chapter 1

Star of David (pronounced "Star of Dah-veed")

Setting: a little before "Faith", season 7

Disclaimer: I don't own the show or its characters.

Hannukah was so much more sensible, Ziva decided. Eight nights, eight small gifts, most of them practical, and you got all your shopping over with before the Christmas rush became too intense. But she was in America now and all her friends were Christian, or at least celebrated Christmas, and so Ziva was spending one of her rare afternoons off threading through crowds of families at the local mall. It was irritating and tiring, but after all that had happened this year, there was no way she was going to neglect her friends this holiday.

Tony was easy to shop for: get him a few classic movie DVDs and he was happy. The trick was remembering which ones he didn't already have. McGee liked computer components or games. A trip to Hot Topic would yield something suitable for Abby. Ducky would want something classy and preferably antique, which would possibly require a stop somewhere else. Palmer she was still thinking about.

The hardest find would be for Gibbs. He asked for little, and she owed him a lot.

As she searched for a store she was convinced the directory had lied to her about, her eyes fell on a jeweler's. She checked her watch. Why not? She had the time.

She walked in and scanned the rows of glass cases containing every semi-precious to precious stone someone could want coiled in bands of silver and gold. Couples of various ages perused the rows, not-so-subtly hinting about which piece they thought was irresistible. A tired-looking man stood in front of one case with a lost look on his face, obviously no longer remembering which of the nearly identical rings his significant other had mooned over.

Ziva kept looking, along the way deciding this shop was overcharging a bit for some of the diamonds they offered, until she found the pendants of religious symbols. She felt the phantom touch of her lost necklace and her fingers itched to reach up and fiddle with the pendant again. She had wanted to replace it for months, but after coming back to the U.S., she'd had to spend every paycheck finding a new apartment and stocking it with furniture, necessities, and clothes, as she'd had nothing of her own left. She nearly chuckled. Tony had accused her once of getting a first-class ticket into America as a liaison. He couldn't say anything now, as this time she'd come to the country with only the clothes on her back, unable to return to her homeland.

She ran her hand along the edge of the case a bit wistfully. She may not be able to call Israel home anymore, and she may be celebrating Christmas more than Hannukah in recent years, but she did not want to give up everything that had once been part of her. There were several Star of David pendants in the case, a few gold, a few silver. She eliminated the ones with diamonds in them. She had never been fond of combining the showiness with a religious symbol.

And yet, she reflected, she'd been willing to wear one made of gold. It had been fairly pricey, she knew, her father's gift for her bat mitzvah. She'd suspected even then that he had gotten that particular one more to boast his recent promotion and status in Mossad to his family than to give his daughter a valuable gift. Still, it had been important to her, a tie to her homeland and family, and she didn't like thinking where it had ended up in Somalia.

She priced the gold pendants and grimaced a bit. She might be able to scrape together enough spare money for one, but it would mean lean living for a while, especially after buying these Christmas gifts. Before, money had never been something she thought too much about. She'd had ample to meet her simple needs and allow for a few luxuries here and there. Now, she saw the cost of the necklaces and could only think that that money instead could be part of next month's bills, the cookware she still needed for her kitchen, several dinner parties with her team. It just no longer made sense to her to use so much money on a piece of jewelry.

Ziva shifted her gaze to the silver pendants and saw the prices were significantly lower. She did a mental calculation. She couldn't afford one immediately, but after the holidays were over, perhaps.

As she considered the silver Stars of David, she warmed more and more to the idea. She was no longer the liaison, the privileged daughter of the director of Mossad. She was earning her place here and would buy her own necklace with her money earned from her hard work. The necklace she focused on was much like the one she'd had before, but, like herself, a bit humbler.

A saleswoman came over. "Can I help you find something?"

Ziva smiled at her. "No. I think I've found what I was looking for."


	2. Shield of David

Setting: at the end of "Faith"

Disclaimer: I own nothing, of course.

Author's note: I intended "Star of David" to just be a one-shot, but after seeing a mention of how we start seeing Ziva's replacement necklace after "Faith", I knew the timing was too perfect and it had to be a Christmas/Hannukah gift, and after doing a little reading on the Star of David symbol, this story came about. I hope you enjoy it!

"You see?" Ziva prodded as they left Delores to enjoy her new doll. "Was that really so bad?"

"No," Tony agreed. "It was actually kind of fun playing Santa. Must be how Scrooge felt when he brought all the gifts to the Cratchits." He pointed down the hallway at a nonexistent Dickensian child. "'You, there! What day is today?'"

Ziva pulled his arm back down. "It's night, Tony, and time to go home."

"True. But, since I'm feeling overcome with the Christmas spirit…" He stopped walking, reached into his pocket, and held a small box out to Ziva. "Merry Christmas, Ziva. Or belated Happy Hannukah."

She eyed the box warily. "I thought we weren't doing gifts."

"Yeah, but I was ordering that doll anyway, and the case today just got me thinking."

"That's dangerous," Ziva commented.

Tony scowled. "You know, I can return that."

She clamped her hands around the box defensively. "Ah, ah! No take-backs!"

"Or at least exchange it for coal," he continued as she began to unwrap it. "What do they give naughty kids for Hannukah?"

"Guilt." She opened the box and her grin faded into a look of touched surprise. Inside, a silver Star of David pendant gleamed on a loop of fine chain, very similar to the ones she had been admiring in the mall less than a week before.

She looked up at him, eyes wide. "Tony…"

"I hope you still wanted one. I know your old one was gold, but what with buying that surprisingly expensive doll I didn't have enough, so I hope that will do for now."

She smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "It's perfect, Tony. You shouldn't have."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "You looked wrong without it. Enjoy it."

"I will. And I think Santa might be coming for you too, if you check your desk in the morning," Ziva said.

His eyes lit up a bit. "Yeah? Even though we're not doing gifts?" 

"Yes. Because no one told me that until after I'd already done my shopping."

He grinned. "You see? If you'd just procrastinate like me—"

"I could get charged too much for overnight shipping on a doll?"

He chose to ignore that. "So what did you get me?"

"You'll have to wait and see. It's not as nice as this, I'm afraid," she said, holding up the pendant. "But after everything that happened this year, I owed you all that much at least."

She saw the shadow flicker behind his eyes as he thought about the past summer. "I already got what I wanted for that."

She smiled and rubbed the pendant between her fingers. "Hmm. Did you know that in Hebrew this symbol is called the Shield of David?" She pronounced it like her last name, looking up to see his response.

"No." He reached out to help put it on her neck. "I hope it works better than your last one did."

He drew back his hands and lingered there, standing close to her, their eyes locked on each other's in silence.

The door opened down the hall and McGee stepped out of MTAC. They moved away from each other quickly as he turned and saw them. "You guys are still here?"

"Yeah," Tony said, quickly regaining his usual sarcastic tone. "What are you up to in there, McGrinch?"

McGee grinned. "Just playing Santa for Abby."

Tony frowned. "I'm not sure I want to hear about this."

McGee rolled his eyes. "Abby asked me to set it up so a kid could talk to his mom while she's afloat. They're in there now."

"Aw. Well, that's actually a little heart-warming. Are you sure you're not a Santa's Elf Lord?"

"Ha ha."

But Tony had found an idea he liked. "No, really, we already saw the funny hat and the ears. You have little curly shoes, don't you?"

McGee pointed to the door. "I'm going back into MTAC now."

"Wait! Don't go!" Tony called, following McGee. "Do you dream of being a dentist?"

Ziva shook her head as they left. That was her partner. And yet, with all his teasing, once in a while he was capable of these surprisingly sincere gestures.

She looked at the pendant again. She had wanted to buy one herself, to prove she was reliant on no one now, her own woman. But still, perhaps it wasn't a weakness or a failure to rely on your teammates. Perhaps there was no shame in allowing someone else to be your shield, as long as you returned the favor.

Abby poked her head out of MTAC and looked around, spotting her. "Ziva! Everyone's coming over to my place for a sort of late dinner thing since none of us are ready to sleep yet. You want to come too?"

Ziva smiled. She suspected Abby was the only one still riding the peak of her caffeine-fueled metabolism while the rest were winding down after the long day, but no one could turn down Abby on Christmas Eve. "I would love to, Abby." 

"Yay! Come on in here! We're debating where to get food."

Ziva let herself follow the warmth of Abby's excitement into MTAC, musing over the reference Tony had made earlier and remembering talking with Tony last year about feeling the lack of family around the holidays. With the ghosts of the past lingering in the background, the spirits of the present talking cheerfully around her, and musings of phantom futures hovering in her mind, Ziva knew that this time she had a new family which had officially claimed her as their own, and she would not take it for granted again.


End file.
